Cardiff School of History, Archaeology and Religion

Conservation students get hammered!

13 August 2007

Students on the MSc Conservation scheme recently spent a day learning traditional blacksmithing techniques at the workshop of leading Welsh artist blacksmith David Peterson and his son Toby. Using a charcoal hearth and steel anvil the students learned how iron and steel were manipulated and made a number of artefacts of their own, including hooks, nails and skewers.

The experience was judged a great success and Dr Louise Joyner, who organised the course, commented "Understanding the properties of materials and how they were manipulated to fabricate objects is a crucial element of successful conservation. Hands-on experience of this type provides insights which are difficult to convey in any other way."